This weekend I made plans to go downtown with some friends to go shopping. When we headed out it turned out the group had different ideas of what to do and where to go. Once we got downtown I split off form the big group with three other people, and we began to wander around to see some piazzas. On our way we walked into Piazza della Rotonda where the Pantheon is. Everyone was feeling a little hungry so we found a local delhi and each got a fresh panino (sandwich). We took our sandwiches and sat down on the steps in the center of the piazza to eat. My sandwich was sooooo good! It had fresh mozzarella, tomato, and basil and was on the most delicious bread that was buttery with the perfect texture. As we ate a street performer sang songs like "con te partiro" and "hymn a'lamour". Sitting eating our delicious lunch, listening to italian music, looking at the Pantheon and the people coming and going in the piazza was a perfect moment. We all sat listening and savoring our meal and simply enjoying the culture that surrounded us.
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| Sant' Ignazio |
Later in the weekend I ventured out to start my research. My plan is to first visit a bunch of churches and then decide what churches to study in more detail. I made plans to visit four churches that were relatively close to each other. For the first time I went out by myself and found my way around Rome solo. It was a great feeling to be out in Rome getting started on my Ricci project. First I went to Sant' Ignazio, the beautiful church of St. Ignatius of Loyola. The church was beautiful and in a lot of ways it seemed to be functioning more like a church than the Vatican since it was silent and most people only took pictures on the outskirts of the church instead of posing in front of statues of the saints like at St. Peter's Basilica. It was a great start to my search for sacred spaces to study.
I also stopped at the Basilica of St. Mary and the Martyrs, also known as the Pantheon. It was beautiful inside, but also sad because no one was treated it like a sacred space. The holy water founts were empty, there were no candles, and the only people sitting in the pews were tourists sitting so they could look up at the famous dome. The signs saying "sacred place, silence please" posted all around were almost comical since the noise inside was like being in a school cafeteria. Although it was a little disappointing to see the extreme tourism in the Pantheon/Basilica it was great for my research.
I'm glad I got to start my research and explore Rome independently, and I can still taste that delicious panino!
This weekend I made plans to go downtown with some friends to go shopping. When we headed out it turned out the group had different ideas of what to do and where to go. Once we got downtown I split off form the big group with three other people, and we began to wander around to see some piazzas. On our way we walked into Piazza della Rotonda where the Pantheon is. Everyone was feeling a little hungry so we found a local delhi and each got a fresh panino (sandwich). We took our sandwiches and sat down on the steps in the center of the piazza to eat. My sandwich was sooooo good! It had fresh mozzarella, tomato, and basil and was on the most delicious bread that was buttery with the perfect texture. As we ate a street performer sang songs like "con te partiro" and "hymn a'lamour". Sitting eating our delicious lunch, listening to italian music, looking at the Pantheon and the people coming and going in the piazza was a perfect moment. We all sat listening and savoring our meal and simply enjoying the culture that surrounded us.
I also stopped at the Basilica of St. Mary and the Martyrs, also known as the Pantheon. It was beautiful inside, but also sad because no one was treated it like a sacred space. The holy water founts were empty, there were no candles, and the only people sitting in the pews were tourists sitting so they could look up at the famous dome. The signs saying "sacred place, silence please" posted all around were almost comical since the noise inside was like being in a school cafeteria. Although it was a little disappointing to see the extreme tourism in the Pantheon/Basilica it was great for my research.
I'm glad I got to start my research and explore Rome independently, and I can still taste that delicious panino!
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